Garry Kasparov and Stephen Cohen on Russia

Garry Kasparov and professor of Russian studies at New York University Stephen Cohen debates Russian politics here. The program lasts an hour, and I don’t expect the link to continue to work indefinitely (because of the 10 minute limit on youtube videos), so if you’d like to watch you should not hesitate to click the link. The debate itself lasts approximately half an hour.

In case you were in doubt, Kasparov is not a crackpot. It’s far too easy to just discard his views like this – on some points I must admit I agree far more with Kasparov than with mr. Cohen, especially when it comes to his evaluation of Gorbatjov. Yes, if you look closely you’ll find some stuff you don’t like, but that’s just the way it is no matter who you’re dealing with, especially if you’re actively looking for the flaws (Kasparov has a few of those of course – ie. his obsession with oil prices). Remember by the way when watching this debate that English is his third language (after Azeri and Russian).